Emerging Research on Improving Parkinson’s Treatment
At the 7th World Parkinson’s Congress, researchers shared findings tracing the source of a debilitating symptom that causes falls and highlighted issues affecting hospitalized patients.
Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative condition after Alzheimer’s, affecting more than one million Americans. The disease is caused by the progressive degeneration of brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, leading to tremors, increased falls, slowness of movement, and may progress to dementia.
Over 4,000 researchers from dozens of countries gathered in Phoenix, Arizona May 24-27 for the 7th World Parkinson’s Congress to discuss the latest research and advances for Parkinson’s. Being Patient caught up with researchers and people with Parkinson’s on the ground to discuss the emerging findings and themes from the conference.
What causes one of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s?
Researchers track the death of dopamine-producing neurons with brain imaging by injecting a radiotracer which binds to dopamine transporters, lighting them up under a brain scanner. These tracers are best at detecting these cells in the basal ganglia, which regulates motor movement.
A weak signal suggests there are few surviving dopamine-producing cells, indicative of Parkinson’s. While their loss explains some symptoms like muscle rigidity, it doesn’t explain other debilitating problems: Postural instability and freezing of gait — the feeling that your feet are glued to the floor, unable to move. These are the symptoms that increase falling risk.
Dr. Nicolaas I. Bohnen, a neurologist and professor at the University of Michigan suspected that other regions of the brain might be to blame.
“There has not been that much attention to dopamine from other areas in the brain,” Bohnen told Being Patient. He presented data from a study of 67 people with Parkinson’s, 19 of whom experienced frequent freezing of gait, which used another type of radiotracer to find the source of the problem.
His study found fewer dopamine-producing cells in the multisensory processing regions of the brain, including the thalamus, which relays sensations to other regions, in individuals experiencing freezing of gait.
Bohnen hopes these findings would lead pharmaceutical companies to develop more treatments that target the cells in these brain areas, leading to more symptomatic relief than existing therapies. He added that another neurotransmitter system called acetylcholine is also affected and involved in these symptoms.
A combination of drugs that target both could be a “game changer” for one of the most debilitating symptoms of the disease, he said.
How medication delays impact hospitalized Parkinson’s patients
Many people with Parkinson’s take dopamine-replacement therapy, consisting of carbidopa and levodopa pills, that must be taken multiple times a day. The treatment quells some of the motor symptoms and may prevent falls. But when they’re admitted into the hospital, like other patients, they aren’t able to bring the medications that they normally take at home.
Is their treatment regimen conserved in the hospital? Dr. Jake Plagenz, a neurology resident at the University of North Dakota, looked at the medical records for 101 patients and found that roughly 62 percent of the doses were administered late.
“I was surprised at how many of the doses were not given on time,” Plagenz told Being Patient.
Because the medicine is short-acting, even a 15-minute delay is consequential. In the hospital, he said, the delay could affect a person’s ability to swallow, increasing the risk of them developing pneumonia if food is inhaled into the airways.
They’re also at risk of falls, for instance when they try to go to the bathroom on their own, and face more difficulty during in-hospital rehabilitation after a fall — since the motor symptoms return when the medications aren’t given on time. “That makes it very hard to then rehabilitate,” said Plagenz, adding that it increases their risk of frailty and future falls.
The issue is systemic and may require addressing issues with hospital staffing, said Plagenz, to ensure that people get their medications on time.
What’s up next for Parkinson’s?
Jim Young, 62, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s six years ago, and started the Evanston Movers and Shakers support group in Evanston, Illinois, where people with Parkinson’s meet for mutual support and physical activities like boxing and Ping Pong. Young told Being Patient he was impressed by the number of international researchers attending, reflecting that Parkinson’s is a global problem.
While some of the research highlighted at the conference focused on improving symptomatic treatment and quality of life for people with the disease, the presentations provided hope that “future drugs would be able to slow the disease progression,” said Young.
As of 2025, there were more than 130 active clinical trials, with more than 30 percent aiming to modify the course of the disease. AbbVie’s one-a-day symptom managing pill, tavapadon, is up for FDA approval this year. Meanwhile a disease-modifying therapy which involves injecting dopamine-producing stem cells into the brain is in the final stages of trials.
FAQs
One of the most debilitating symptoms in Parkinson’s is freezing of gait, which could lead to falls. Emerging research presented at the 7th World Parkinson’s Congress suggests that the death of dopamine-producing cells in sensorimotor regions of the brain may be to blame.
A brain imaging technique called Dopamine Transporter Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography (DaT-SPECT) may be used to assist in diagnosing Parkinson’s and ruling out other conditions. It involves injecting a safe radiotracer that lights up dopamine-producing cells in the brain. A low signal may indicate that someone’s symptoms could be caused by Parkinson’s.
Freezing of gait is a symptom that makes people with Parkninson’s temporarily feel like their feet are glued to the floor. It makes it difficult to step forward and increases the risk of falls.
